Journal end stop



May 23, 1967 F, FISHER ETAL JOURNAL END STOP 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1965 a r S 5 R76 FM v! m W5 M N. a R m m a Q A Z May 23, 1967 F, FISHER ETAL JOURNAL END STOP 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5, 1965 ATTORNEYS y 1967 F. G. FISHER ETAL 3,321,255

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ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,321,255 JOURNAL END STOP Franklin G. Fisher, Wyomissing, and Luther Lewis Bollinger, Sn, Reading, Pa., assignors to Reading Company, Philadelphia, Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 436,891 Claims. (Cl. 308-41) The present invention relates to an axle end stop for use in a railway car journal box to limit the endwise motion of the axle.

A purpose of the invention is to control the endwise travel of the axle in a railway car journal box.

A further purpose is to reduce the wear on journal brasses and the wear on end collars of railway car axles.

A further purpose is to reduce damage to dust guards in a railway car journal box.

A further purpose is to apply an end stop to a railway car journal box without requiring the use of a special door or a special journal box body.

A further purpose is to eliminate the need to make openings in a journal box for attachment of an end stop by bolts.

A further purpose is to reduce the need for refinishing of surfaces of an axle on account of wear.

A further purpose is to make the bearing block used in the end stop readily replaceable without disassembly of the journal.

A further purpose is to make the end stop bearing block engage the end of the axle centrally notwithstanding slight misalignment of the parts.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings we have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerous embodiments of the invention, selecting the form shown from the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactory operation and clear demonstration of the principles involved.

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section of a standard railway car journal box according to the invention, omitting the journal and the cover.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of the journal box of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective showing the assembled end stop of the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the journal box and the end stop of the invention to enlarged scale.

FIGURE 5 is a section of FIGURE 4 on the line 55.

FIGURE 6 is a section of FIGURE 4 on the line 6-6.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary section of the end stop on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 8 is an interior elevation of the bearing block and holder, broken away to show the construction of the latch.

FIGURE 9 is an exploded perspective of the end stop viewed from the outside of the journal box.

FIGURE 10 is an exploded perspective of the end stop viewed from the inside of the journal box.

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary vertical section showing a jig attached to the journal box for positioning the anchor.

FIGURE 12 is a detailed perspective of the jig.

As a result of a study of the causes of failure in railway car journals, we have concluded that approximately forty percent of the difficulty is due to end motion of the axle. Under normal railway practice at the present time, a well designed railway car axle has an end motion of about three-eights of an inch in a new standard railway car journal bearing. This increases as the journal bearing becomes worn, and when the railway car journal hearing is about ready for replacement the endwise motion of the axle is as much as one and one-quarter inch.

Under such extreme conditions of end motion, the journal strikes against the end of the bearing and tends to pound or pummel the end of the bearing brass and to cause wear on the end collars, rapidly increasing the rate of deterioration of the bearing.

Railway diesel locomotives at present are equipped with journal end stops, as described in Electromotive Pointers, published by General Motors Corporation, Mar. 14, 1963. Efforts have also been made to install end stops in standard railway car journal bearings. So far as we are aware, this contemplated modification of the journal box or of the journal box cover, or both, has not been satisfactory to the industry. So far as we know, no end stop has been successfully applied to a railway car journal box prior to the present invention.

In accordance with the invention, we locate in the lower portion of the end of the journal box, an anchor, suitably secured to the interior of the box by welding. The anchor is properly positioned by means of a jig so that its location will be the same in each journal box. The anchor has removable means for interlocking with a holder for the bearing block.

In the preferred embodiment, this interlock means includes guideways at the sides of the anchor, a center block or center blocks on the anchor, a base plate on the holder extending into the guideways and preferably spring tongues to resiliently position the holder. Furthermore, since there is a shearing component between the holder and the anchor, a lip extends along the top and preferably also the bottom of the anchor.

The holder in the preferred form includes transverse side pieces which extend outwardly and position a platform in a vertical position. The platform has side flanges to engage the bearing block, an end flange to limit the bearing block and a removable latch to secure the bearing block in place.

Since it is very difiicult to assure that the platform will be absolutely vertical, We find that the proper positioning of the point of contact between the resilient bearing block and the end of the axle is greatly assisted by pro- Viding a convex inner face on the bearing block with its chord directed vertically so that the lateral center of the axle will engage the bearing block along a line.

Describing in illustration but not in limitation and referring particularly to the drawings:

The standard railway car journal box involves an axle 20 having an axis having a journal surface 21 and an end surface 22. It is journalled by suitable brasses (not shown) in a railway journal box 23, having a bottom 24, a top 25, side walls 26, a bottom end wall 27 and a door opening 28 covered by a suitable cover (not shown).

The journal end stop of the invention comprises as major components an anchor 30, a holder 31, an end stop bearing block 32 and a retainer 33.

Considering first the anchor 30, it desirably includes a base portion 34 which may conveniently be flat, top and bottom lips or flanges 35 extending out transverse to the base portion 34, and end guideways 36 which are parallel to one another and include projecting lips extending toward one another at a position more remote from the base 34 than the inner ends of the lips 35.

At an intermediate point or points, on the inside of the base 34, are provided a locator block or blocks 37.

The anchor is positoned at the center of the journal box with respect to the front and back sides and immediately below the bottom of the door opening, and this is best accomplished by a clamping jig 38 having a U-shaped element 40 as best seen in FIGURES l1 and 12 provided with an inner arm 41 which has secured therein as by welding a locator pad 42 whose top and bottom edges 43 and 44 are adapted to fit inside the lips 35 after sliding in the guideways 36 of the anchor. Pad 42 and adjoining arm 41 are provided with openings 45 to receive the blocks 37 on the anchor.

At the outside the clamp has an arm 46 which has secured thereto as by Welding a nut 47 which passes and interthreads with a clamp screw 48 tightened by a handle 50.

With the anchor properly positioned, it is secured permanently to the inside of the journal box at the location best seen in FIGURES 1 and 2 by weld beads 51 applied from the opposite sides.

Once the anchor is positioned, the holder is inserted therein. The holder includes a base plate 52 which at the opposite ends fits in the guideways 36 and also fits in a space defined by the top and bottom lips 35. Openings 53 in the base plate receive and closely engage the blocks 37 so as to further restrain the holder as long as it remains seated in the space provided between the guideways at the opposite end and the lips at the top and bottom.

The base plate 52 has secured thereto, at opposite ends as by welding, transverse brackets 54 which are of wedge formation as best seen in FIGURE and at their outer ends secure as by welding a platform 55 which extends vertically in the assembled position as best seen in FIG- URE 5.

The platform 55 has at the top and bottom edges transversely directed top and bottom flanges 56 converging toward one another so as to position and retain the resilient bearing block 32. The flanges 56 are parallel to one another except for the convergence.

At one end also the platform 55 has a generally transverse flange 57 which engages one end of the bearing block 32.

At the opposite end from the flange 57 there is provided a removable latch 58 for removably securing the bearing block 32. The latch 58 conveniently includes a latch pin 60 which has a pin projection 61 at one end in latching position engaging in an opening 62 in an extended portion of an upper flange 31 and a latch pin portion 63 at the other end which in latching position correspondingly engages in an opening 64 in an extended portion of a lower flange 56 of the holder.

The latch pin 60 has a helical compression spring 65 surrounding the projection 63. The latch pin is held in a housing 66 in which the pin 60 is capable of being deflected under the action of a handle 67 secured to the pin and passing through an opening 68 in the housing. The housing has an end wall 70 provided with an opening through which the pin projection 63 moves to retain the spring 65. A cooperating handle 71 on the housing permits the user to pinch handle 67 and 71 toward one another to remove the latch by first removing the pin portion 63.

The bearing block 32 is of resilient material preferably nylon or linear polyamide of any well known type available in solid resilient form.

The bearing block as shown has at the top and bottom surfaces wedge portions 72 parallel except for the wedging, which engage and are held by the converging flanges 56 of the holder. The bearing block has a straight back surface 74 engaging the platform 55. At opposite ends the block is conveniently straight. At its inner surface the block has a convex curved portion 75 which is positioned as best seen in FIGURE 1 so that its maximum inward extension is at the vertical middle and so that the chord of the arc Will be vertical so that notwithstanding slight angular misalignment the end 22 of the axle will engage the curved portion 75 of the resilient bearing block near the middle of the bearing block,

With the holder properly seated in the anchor so that its back-plate 52 is between the guideways 36 and also between the lips 35 and engages the blocks 37, there is a space at 76 in each guideway inwardly of the backp'late 52. In this space enters fork ends 77 of a bifurcated retainer 33, and to assure resilient seating of the holder in the anchor each of the retainer fork prongs 77 has extending along the same adjoining the guideway a leaf spring 78 secured to the retainer 33 suitably by rivets 80.

Accordingly to remove the holder and the bearing block and substitute an inward bearing block it is merely necessary to pull up on the retainer which is exposed and accessible at the bottom of the door 28. Then the holder can be pushed away from the anchorage to clear the lip 35 and the blocks 37 and can be slid up in the guideways and removed through the door. The bearing block can be substituted by pressing together the latch handles 67 and 71 and removing the latch and then pushing out the worn bearing block longitudinally. A new bearing block can be slid into the holder and the latch replaced. If for any reason it is preferred, the latch can be eliminated and a cotter pin can be used. Then the holder can be replaced in the anchor sliding it down in the guideways and then outward until the blocks 37 engage in the openings 53 and the base plate of the holder is supported at the top and bottom by the lips 35. Then the retainer can be forced back into place securely locking the holder and the bearing block.

In view of our invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of our invention without copying the structure shown, and we, therefore, claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of our claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a stop for a railroad car axle intended to be removably mounted in a car journal box, anchor means for attachment to a car journal box including parallel guideways at opposite sides, and an intermediate projecting block, holder means having side extensions in interfitting engagement with the guideways, having an intermediate opening receiving and engaging the projecting block and having means for mounting abearing block, retainer means having pron-gs extending into the guideway and locking the holder means in the anchor means and a resilient bearing block secured within the holder means and adapted to engage and stop the end of the axle.

2. A stop of claim 1, in combination with a lip on the anchor means extending along and above the holder means and restraining it against upward motion.

3. A stop of claim 1, in which the holder means comprises a base plate extending into the guideways, side supports extending out from the base plate, a platform mounted on the side supports, transversely directed flanges extending outward from the top and bottom, respectively, of the platform and retaining the bearing block, a flange extending outwardly from one end of the platform and retaining one end of the bearing block and a removable latch retaining the other end of the bearing block.

4. A stop of claim 1, in which the retainer means comprises a fork having said prongs extending into the guide- 5 6 Way and spring means extending along the prongs and 'urg- 2,133,024 10/1938 Gibbons et a-l. 30841 X ing the holder means into retaining engagement with the 2,361,289 10/1944 Harrington 30841 anchor means. 2,941,849 6/1960 Sale 30840 5. A stop of claim 1, in which the hearing block has 2,992,865 7/1961 Klasing 30840 a convex arcuate surface engaging the end of the axle. 5 3,027,203 3/1962 Sweger 30838 3,132,905 5/1964- Fisher et a1 30840 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS MARTIN P. SCHWADRON, Primary Examiner.

227,220 5 13 0 Cushing 303 41 R. F. HESS, Assistant Examiner.

847,992 3/1907 [NeWcom b 308-41 10 

1. IN A STOP FOR A RAILROAD CAR AXLE INTENDED TO BE REMOVABLY MOUNTED IN A CAR JOURNAL BOX, ANCHOR MEANS FOR ATTACHMENT TO A CAR JOURNAL BOX INCLUDING PARALLEL GUIDEWAYS AT OPPOSITE SIDES, AND AN INTERMEDIATE PROJECTING BLOCK, HOLDER MEANS HAVING SIDE EXTENSIONS IN INTERFITTING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GUIDEWAYS, HAVING AN INTERMEDIATE OPENING RECEIVING AND ENGAGING THE PROJECTING BLOCK AND HAVING MEANS FOR MOUNTING A BEARING BLOCK, RETAINER MEANS HAVING PRONGS EXTENDING INTO THE GUIDEWAYS AND LOCKING THE HOLDER MEANS IN THE ANCHOR MEANS AND A RESILIENT BEARING BLOCK SECURED WITHIN THE HOLDER MEANS AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AND STOP THE END OF THE AXLE. 